Velocity (22 page)

“I have that part all figured out,” he said. “They’re having a big feast before the meeting, that’s supposed to correspond with the school’ s prom theme of masquerade. They’ll all be wearing masks.”

I thought about my research into Dexter’s Umbra Regnum ritual. A feast was the first step to the ritual. It left me with a sense of unease.

“I didn’t even know that was this year’s theme,” I admitted. “I haven’t been paying any attention. You know I’m not a dancy girl to begin with.”

He pushed my hair behind my ear. “There has been a lot going on lately. It doesn’t matter.” He kissed me gently. “We had a lot of fun the last time, though. That was one of the top nights in my history.”

I wondered what the others might be, but I didn’t ask. “Do you think we’ll make it through this together? What if your father really does hurt me?”

“He won’t,” Henry said in a fierce, pained whisper.

“And if we do make it through all of this, the drama and the life or death, are we going to stay together?” I was on a roll now and couldn’t stop myself. “I really think I’m going to school in Washington. I sent in my letter to Antioch University Seattle.”

“Then I’ll go with you,” Henry said immediately, holding both of my hands. “I told you I applied to school out there. I’m with you until you don’t want me.”

“You have like a perfect GPA. You could go anywhere.”

“That’s why I want to go with you.”

I smiled at him, feeling like he was giving up things for me that he shouldn’t. The strength of our connection almost scared me.

“It’s funny, I was starting to wonder where you slept. You’ve been in my room so many times, but I’ve never been in yours.” My comment was meant to be light-hearted, but his eyes darkened passionately instead. The tension in the air was sizzling. The light from the aquarium threw his features into relief, and the lines of his cheekbones and nose stood out attractively.

His hand slipped up behind my shoulder, and he pulled me closer, touching my lips with his. I parted my mouth to let his tongue brush against mine as he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer.

I felt my head starting to get light as he kept kissing me. He pressed his fingertips into my hips, raising welcome pressure. I pushed into him, wanting to get even closer.

There was a knock at the door and we broke apart. My heart skipped a beat and I clumsily swallowed a gasp.

“Henry, I need to talk to you!” Phillip called.

“
Hide under there
,” Henry mouthed, pointing beneath his bed. I dropped to my knees, flattening myself out and slid in the two foot space beneath the bed frame, pressing myself against the wall.

I heard Henry open the door and scoot out into the hall and I held my breath, listening to my pulse thump in my ears. I pressed my finger to my kiss-swollen lips to quite myself as I stared at the bottom of the box spring.

“Didn’t you hear me calling?” Phillip asked, definitely perturbed.

“I heard. I’m out here, aren’t I?” Henry retorted. My teeth clenched in worry for him talking to his father like that. “What do you want?”

“You’d do well to remember who brought you into this world,” Phillip said.

“Like I ever get a chance to forget,” Henry snarled.

There was a scuffling sound, and I almost jumped out from the bed. But then they spoke again.

“Not this time, huh?” Henry said.

“I need to know if you’re going to be at the next meeting. All the children are supposed to attend. Have you reconsidered?”

“Yes.”

“I want you to wear your pin, in a show of solidarity,” Phillip said, sounding much more calm.

“Fine. Whatever you want. But I’m only wearing it that one night,” Henry said.

“Good to see you’ve come around on some things,” Phillip said. I heard his footsteps stomp away from the door and let out a breath of relief. My neck ached from twisting it unnaturally in the weird position I was squished in.

I heard the door close and saw Henry’s sneakers. He leaned down and stuck his hand out, pulling me back out. I jumped to my feet. He was pale, running his tongue bar against his lips thoughtfully. A tiny spark of desire quivered inside me, but I tried to ignore it.

“That sounded like fun,” I said quietly.

“I’m sorry you had to hear that.”

“Did he hit you?” Although I didn’t see any bruises, I was scared to know the answer.

“He raised his hand to me but put it down. It’s like he won’t hit me anymore,” Henry said, smoothing his messy hair down. “So, that was getting a little heavy before we got interrupted.”

I blushed, staring down at my shoes. “Yeah, well. I like you, if you haven’t noticed.” I glanced back up at him through my lashes.

A little smirk played on his lips. “Maybe just a bit.”

His mouth found mine again, warm and inviting. As we kissed, I suddenly felt too warm, too close. There wasn’t enough room. I gently pushed him away. He pouted for a second, but then rustled his keys out of his pocket.

“C’mon, we need to get you out of here and home while he’s preoccupied. He went back out to the store for a minute.” He grabbed my hand. “We’ll use the back entrance.”

Henry drove me back to where my car was parked up at school and kissed me goodbye. During the drive home I tried not to be distracted, but thoughts kept popping into my head, about the seriousness of the impending meeting, and about the growing chemistry between Henry and me. I thought I might snap with tension from either one.

###

The next week passed quicker than normal. We spent more time than normal planning our attack. Hugh was working midnights in a low-paying job as a cook in a restaurant the next town over. But when I came home from school every day, he was up and waiting, talking to Callie and the others over the phone and in person.

“Who are you going to send in?” I asked him on Wednesday.

“Golem and me, and Henry, of course. His father wants him there, anyway. Callie and the Taylors are going to be outside, keeping watch in case of trouble.”

“And me,” I finished.

Hugh sighed. “And you. But you have to be very, very careful, Ariel. I still don’t think it’s a great idea, but you’re the only one of us who has the Sight, and you might be able to offer more insight as to whether there are any supernatural forces present.”

Hawthorne was completely wrapped up, as usual, in planning for prom. The Thornhill kids also talked excitedly about being invited to the feast and the meeting, since they weren’t usually guests. I couldn’t get away from hearing chatter about both of them.

“Do you want to help me scope out furniture for my dorm tomorrow?” Theo asked me on Friday, the day before prom. We were both sitting in the Commons alone, in a rare moment of boredom. Everyone else just seemed so excited that we felt left out. “It’s something to do so we don’t sit at home feeling sorry for ourselves. I’m not buying anything for another couple of months, but I can get some ideas.”

“Sure. Sounds good.”

I knew part of her plan was to stop her from thinking about how Alex was going with Madison. She came over to my house at seven the next night. When she arrived, I was in my sweats cleaning my bathroom. I came out to the living room with rubber gloves on and a toilet brush in one hand, but Hugh beat me to the door.

I blinked. Theo looked like a princess in a short, mint strapless dress with a fluffy skirt. Her hair was flowing in mermaid curls around her shoulders, and her eyes sparkled with glitter liner. Fat rhinestones shined in her ears. In her hand she held a long black garment bag.

“You look pretty dressed up for furniture shopping,” I said, raising my eyebrow as I stripped off the rubber gloves. I indicated the bag. “What’s that, fabric swatches? Curtains?”

“That was just an excuse to keep your plans free,” Theo explained.

She smirked at me. Hugh was standing off to the side, staring at her quizzically.

“Prom is like one of those stupid, once in a lifetime events in a person’s life,” she continued. “And I think we’ve already missed out on enough of the traditional high school experience. I mean, we never made a garage band. We never did an awesome senior prank. All we have is this and graduation left.”

She unzipped the garment bag and pulled out a gorgeous blue dress in the same style as her own. I ran my hands over the silky fabric. Delicate beading and sequins decorated the top half.

“This is amazing,” I breathed. I checked the back for a tag, but didn’t find one. I looked up at her. “Did you make these yourself?”

A light blush colored her cheeks and she looked down. “Yeah. I’ve been taking a break from painting lately to give myself some breathing room. And I had some free time on my hands. I never realized how much I doodled before.”

“How did you not tell me?”

“It’s been my little secret this whole time. I just want us to feel like normal people one more night before all of this goes down.”

I looked to my father, who had an oh-God-here-it-comes expression. “Can I please, please go? I mean, come on now, man, the girl made dresses from scratch and everything.”

Theo held up her hands, which had rainbow colored band-aids on several fingertips. “I even bled a little. Well, not
on
the dresses.”

Hugh looked back and forth between the two of us, and he let a sigh out through his nose.

“I can’t be the dad who stops you from going to prom. That’s just too much,” Hugh said. I felt a smile crack across my face. “But you’ve just got to promise me―really promise―that you will watch out for trouble.”

I threw my arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. He squeezed me back in a hug.

“You should get ready,” he said, sounding a bit choked up.

I got dressed quickly, doing my hair and makeup with Theo’s help. She gave me winged eyeliner with her steady hand, making my eyes pop. I wondered if she’d sneaked out some of my clothes for measurements, because the dress fit perfectly.

When we went to the door to leave, Hugh smiled at me. “You look beautiful, hon. Go have fun.”

We rushed out to Theo’s car. There was someone waiting in the back seat. I leaned to the side to get a better peek. It was Henry, dressed up in a tuxedo, holding a corsage in his lap. My breath caught in my throat. When he saw me, he smiled nervously.

“This is the other part of my surprise,” Theo explained to my quizzical look.

“You guys planned this together, didn’t you?” I asked as I slid in beside Theo.

Henry grinned at me. “Yeah.”

“Oh, you’ll also need this.” Theo fished around in her purse and brought out two glittery, feathered masks. She handed me the blue one. “It is a masquerade ball, after all.”

CHAPTER 20

INSIDE THE GYMNASIUM,
everyone was wearing the masquerade masks to conceal their identities. The prom committee had given the masks out when they sold the tickets, according to Theo, and it was a requirement. They were even handing out extras at a table when we passed by.

The swarm of dresses was luxurious and beautiful, in every shade of the rainbow. I definitely think Theo’s dresses won for most awesome, but I was admittedly prejudiced. It was dark enough that with the costumes I couldn’t identify anyone, adding an air of mystery. There were purple and green lights strung up on the walls. Purple, green, and gold balls covered in sparkle were suspended from the ceiling. On the long banquet table, glass vases held bouquets of peacock feathers and masks.

Theo immediately began walking into the crowd, her head held high. “You guys go and have fun,” she said, grinning. “I’m gonna go get my dance on.”

Henry took my hand and smiled at me, pulling me onto the dance floor. I felt an anxious quivering in my stomach―he’d seen me dance before, of course, but I was really rusty. What if I tripped over my own feet and faceplanted?

“Just like the first time,” he said, grinning and pulling my arms around his neck. He gently pressed his hands to my waist as our hips began to sway. “I think you might look even more gorgeous tonight, though, if it’s possible.”

“Thank you,” I mumbled, blushing. “It’s been so long since then.”

“Not that long. It’s just that so much has changed,” he replied, smiling softly. Then the music was too loud for us to keep talking. Henry moved me around and I felt my worries melt away.

I kept track of Theo, who looked so beautiful and seemed to be having a great time dancing with different boys. She twirled around effortlessly, her movements graceful even when she was being goofy. I hadn’t seen her so carefree since we’d gotten back to Hell, and her intimidating beauty magnetized the guys to keep coming. Then I lost her in the crowd.

Henry and I kept dancing as the night wore on. When he’d catch me getting too serious, he’d break out the silly dance moves and make me laugh. With the lights low, it really was hard telling who was who. I couldn’t pick out any of the Thornhill kids.

“Is this a glimpse of things to come?” asked a girl speaking with her friend. I tried to listen closer, but couldn’t hear them.

“Yeah, when we go trick-or-treating,” the other girl said after a moment. Then they moved away.